The Internet and Politics Agenda for Today  New Social Movements: defined  Examples  Impact of the Internet  Questions about NSMs  Core concepts & the Internet’s effects

The Internet and Politics New social movements  unconventional political behaviour  “Movements…are better defined as collective challenges by people with common purposes and solidarity in sustained interaction with opponents and authorities.” – Tarrow

The Internet and Politics Examples:  environmentalism  gay & lesbian rights  feminism  civil rights movement  peace movement  Solidarity (Poland)  anti-globalization movement

The Internet and Politics Impact of the Internet  NSMs well-positioned to take advantage of Net because of:  outsider status  high information costs  high coordination costs  global diffusion  every aspect of NSMs potentially affected

The Internet and Politics Questions about social movements:  How do social movements emerge?  Why do individuals participate in movements?  How do movements choose their tactics?  What determines the size of the movement?  What affects the success of the movement?  Why do movements collapse or end?

The Internet and Politics Core concepts  Political Opportunity Structures  Frames  Cycles of Protest  Resource Mobilization  Repertoires of Protest

The Internet and Politics Political Opportunity Structures  Protest/resistance more or less difficult at different times.  3 dimensions:  degree of openness/closure of formal political access  degree of stability or instability of political alignments  availability of potential allies/partners  Internet dramatically changes the P.O.S. especially in repressive regimes  e.g. Indonesia, Philippines

The Internet and Politics Frames  how people understand the meaning of the movement  includes goals, values, identities  part of what recruits people to the movement  hotly contested  Internet disperses control over movement framing  e.g. environmentalist discussionenvironmentalist discussion

The Internet and Politics Cycles of Protest  NSMs have a typical life course:  start with clashes between early challengers and authorities  other social actors align with one or the other side  process accelerates:  additional organizations/movements form  methods of protest are diffused  protest widens and becomes more socially encompassing  Internet accelerates the cycles of protest  e.g. MAI

The Internet and Politics Resource Mobilization  success depends ability to mobilize resources via:  professional organizers  political entrepreneurs  financing/funding  Net makes resource moblization both less and more crucial  fewer barriers to entry  e.g. Changing the ClimateChanging the Climate  greater returns to resource investments

The Internet and Politics Repertoires  forms of protest have to be invented  e.g. sit-ins, marches, culture jamming  different repertoires associated with different movements  Internet has expanded the repertoire with:  petitions  online sit-ins and marches  hacktivism  e.g. Black ThursdayBlack Thursday

The Internet and Politics Discussion